(Updates with Meta Platforms' comments in the fourth and fifth paragraphs.)
Meta Platforms' (META) smart glasses and other wearable devices are being restricted or prohibited by "many" UK cinema operators over film piracy and privacy concerns, the UK Cinema Association said Thursday.
The association said many cinema operators are "introducing policies to prohibit and/or restrict the wearing of camera-enabled smart glasses" in their venues in response to reports on privacy issues around the use of these devices.
The group said its members are aware of the benefits provided by smart glasses and other wearable technology, but are also "mindful of the issues around privacy and film piracy."
A Meta spokesperson toldthat the company's smart glasses "provide critical new technology for people in the blind and low vision community and limiting how people can use this technology would be a major step backwards."
"Naturally some places shouldn't be filmed at all and that's reasonable but rules should be applied consistently. Our glasses have a light that turns on to let people know when a photo or video is taken, something smartphones and other cameras don't have," the Meta spokesperson said.
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